The Daily Dish: April 6, 2016

Today's first course?

The FDA Is Finally Trying to Limit Arsenic Levels in Baby Rice Cereal

It's no secret that rice-based products like rice cereal and rice cakes contain trace levels of arsenic. Even though international health organizations have claimed that the levels of poisonous chemicals in rice should not be enough to alarm customers, the FDA is stepping up and is proposing a limit on arsenic levels in baby rice cereal. Young children are particularly susceptible to the effects of low levels of arsenic and studies have shown children who have been exposed regularly perform worse on school testing. The FDA is now calling for infant rice cereal producers to cap inorganic arsenic parts at 100 per billion, which is similar to the standards set by the European Commission, according to the Wall Street Journal. Major brands like Gerber have issued press releases stating that their products already meet the FDA proposed standards.

Capri Sun, the Artificial Drink of Our Childhoods, Is Going Organic

Capri Sun, the classic fruity drink of our childhood with the difficult-to-navigate straw punch, is back in a new form. Kraft Heinz has just announced the release of Capri Sun Organic, a new line of USDA-certified organic juices with no sugar added and more vitamin C. The new Capri Sun is also made with zero artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives. The new Capri Sun Organic — which comes in fruit punch, tropical punch, apple, and grape — is still only made with 66 percent juice though, so one wonders what organic ingredients comprise the other 34 percent of the juice product.

There Are Now More Overweight People Than Underweight People in the World

The tide of health and nutrition has finally turned: When you travel the world, you are now more likely to come across an overweight person than an underweight person. According to a study by researchers at the Imperial College in London, the average global BMI has skyrocketed along with the number of obese people, which has spiked from 105 million to 641 million in just 40 years. The percentage of underweight people, meanwhile has decreased from 14 to nine percent of men and 10 percent of women. A healthy body mass index (BMI) is somewhere in the range of 18.5 to 24.9. According to the study, 641 million people worldwide fall into the obese BMI category with BMIs over 30.

That's today's Daily Dish, thanks for watching. Stop by tomorrow for another helping.